Sunday, 29 April 2012

One more job to add to the list (!) is to lag the pipe which takes the domestic hot water from the top of the calorifier.

The calorifier sits in the engine compartment, probably on the swim (but I'm not on board to verify this), and pokes through a cupboard in what I'm calling the "engine room" (is this the right description of the area one enters by opening the slide and the rear steel doors?).

The space above the slatted shelf over the calorifier would make a good airing cupboard. We've used it to keep bacon butties warm while steering! But the outlet pipe really should be lagged.

Or should it? The hot water has always - so far - felt hot enough. Perhaps there's enough waste heat while cruising to keep this cupboard nicely warm. Perhaps it should be unlagged while cruising and lagged when marina-bound!

Another thing for me to investigate - there's a lot about Jubilee I have yet to learn - is the plumbing of the central heating. The radiators are fed from a Webasto diesel heater which, I think, also supplies domestic hot water. Presumably the hot water output of the Webasto is pumped through a coil in the calorifier before passing through the radiator circuit. But I haven't seen it with my own eyes yet.

Visible in the top photo are (clockwise from the blue oil can): tiller arm; calorifier; timer for immersion heater; two RCD-protected mains sockets; header tank for central heating; electrics for Webasto; stop cock in hot water pipe.

Saturday, 28 April 2012

From Fazeley we winded just south of Coleshill Road Bridge, then returned to the junction and turned right along the Coventry Canal for three miles, ascending the two Glascote Locks. At the locks I noticed a bearded man walking purposefully towards us. I didn't immediately recognise him in his disguise.

Friday, 27 April 2012

This was the third and final day of our short cruise to get Jubilee from Kegworth to our temporary moorings in Fazeley. Ally and Ben were due to meet us in Fazeley, so I set the alarm and made an early (0620) start.

I have already published this photo - this is five minutes before I set off.

The aqueduct over the River Dove ...

... has a pillbox at the far (western) end.

We stopped at Fradley services to empty the loo cassette for the first time, then up Junction Lock, swing left, and through the swing bridge on the Coventry Canal.

At Streethay we stopped to replace the gas cylinder which had run out just before we bought the boat. While there I topped up with diesel and noted the engine hours (2429) so I can do a consumption check next time I fill up. I also bought a couple of Jubilee clips for the top ends of the aft deck drain hoses. A familiar boat was there.

6. See about replacing some of the 20W halogen spotlights with LED bulbs.

7. Second centre rope?

1. The isolation transformer is for when the boat is hooked up to mains at the marina. The only sure way to remove the possibility of potentially corrosive earth loop currents is to use a mains isolation transformer so there is no connection to the shore line mains earth. I distrust so-called galvanic isolators, which comprise two pairs of back-to-back diodes. I'd rather spend £350 on something I know will always work than £70 on something which might work sometimes, but possibly not if a switched-mode power supply is being used on board.

2. Needs doing.

3. I made the mistake of burning some green wood. The smoke condensed on the underside of the coolie hat and tar dripped down onto the cabin top, along the hand rail and down the side of the boat. I actually saw this happening, and touched the run with my finger. It was wet but not sticky, so I thought I'd be able to clean it off the next day. Er, no. The next day neither water nor white spirit would budge it. When I next go to the boat I'll try meths - unless anyone has a better idea. (And no, I won't be tempted to drink the stuff.)

At the top of the picture you can see where the handrail has a break to allow for drainage. Running down from here are two or three trickles of tar. Not easy to see, I grant you.

4. The former owner has been very good to us, considering we were taking away his pride-and-joy. Not only did he weld new anodes on and black the hull after we'd already said we'd buy the boat, but he also left us three brand new batteries to replace three which no longer held their charge. Now in the domestic battery bank there are currently five batteries. I'm thinking of removing all of them, and installing just the three new ones. As well as keeping to the good practice of not mixing old and new batteries, I think that there's more chance of keeping three batteries fully charged, compared with five. If we're careful with power usage, especially when not on shore power, I think this should work. I'll have to do one of Tony Brooks's energy audits.

5. There is a small battery charger connected to the battery bank. This can be switched on when connected to shore power. The charger will only be able to supply a trickle charge - no good if the batteries are being heavily used, such as when powering the inverter or running all 19 (!) 20W halogens. I need to find out about a more heavy duty device, one which will monitor the state of charge and adjust its output accordingly. The engine is fitted with two alternators, and there's a Sterling "Advanced Digital 4 Step Split Charge Alternator To Battery Charger" box in the engine room.

I don't know what it does. (But if it's "digital" it must be good, eh?!)

6. Or don't switch them on.

7. Get a second centre rope (or remove the wretched fairleads, which seem to serve only as traps for the rope, so you can't flick it over to the other side).

Tuesday, 24 April 2012

Jumping back to last Wednesday I'll briefly describe our very first journey on our very first 100% owned-by-us boat.

Shortly after midnight on 18th April 2012 I made the payment from my bank account which completed our purchase of Jubilee, meaning that we were free to go. At a more reasonable time in the morning we untied from the mooring and carefully navigated under Kegworth Road Bridge, off the backwater and onto the main River Soar.

It was a fantastic feeling! We were on our own boat! It was raining and I didn't care! In fact it poured. As we passed a boat on its mooring at Red Hill a man popped his head out of the side hatch and shouted, "You must be mad!"

Our first stop was at Sawley Marina on the Trent where we bought a 12' shaft. We'd bought an anchor, chain and warp the previous day and had taken them to the boat by car. This was my first full-length photo of the boat.

We were soon at Shardlow where we tied up.

Near the Clock Warehouse I spotted this narrowboat weathervane on another warehouse.

Sunday, 22 April 2012

We've been rather busy the last couple of days with Ally and Ben on board, seeing their new home-to-be, and that's why I haven't blogged recently.

Lots of you have very kindly sent your congratulations on our new acquisition - much like you would if we'd had a new baby! In a way I suppose it is like that. It's certainly going to take a lot of our time and money; we will lavish it with our attention, care (and even love?); and it will reward us with, well, with just being our Jubilee.

Before I put up photos of the interior, here's another exterior. That's Ally at the bow.

I'm going to have to do something about those fenders. That's how the boat was when we took it, in its freshly blacked state. There are a couple of bonglers fitted with carabiner-type clips: I think I'll just use these when tying up for the night.

Here's a brief summary of the events of the last few days:

Last Sunday we returned to Shadow at Wigram's Turn, and sorted out the insurance. From my online bank account I paid the vendor the first wodge of money, phoned him and said he should have the cash, and (cheekily) asked if we could come up to the boat and stay overnight before making the next payment.

He said that that would be all right, so we drove up to Kegworth where the boat was.

BUT...

The money hadn't appeared in the vendor's bank account! He knew why, though: he'd given us the wrong sort code! My immediate thought was, of course, where is my money? Fortunately, when I looked at my account, it was back in there. Phew!

So I set up a payment to the correct account, but the rules of the bank meant that I had to wait another day, putting everything behind schedule. On Tuesday we drove to Sawley marina and Long Eaton. At the marina we bought a heavier anchor than the one on board, complete with chain and warp. Chris Nixon at the marina spliced it all together for us. Back at the boat I waited up until midnight, and then made the second and final online payment. Thankfully this went through without a hitch. We'd bought the boat!

Finally for this post, a photo of a heron by a weir. This was the river section of the Trent and Mersey between Wychnor and Alrewas.

Thursday, 19 April 2012

Today, in rather less rain than yesterday, we cruised Jubilee from Shardlow to just beyond Willington, meeting up with fellow bloggers Nev of Waterlily and Heth and Dave from Takey Tezey. We plied them with tea and proudly showed them our new toy. Before that we'd stopped for a fry-up on board, and I discovered the shortcomings of a saw from Poundland. (Note to self: get a proper bow saw, and soon.)

Tomorrow we'll be making a dawn start (that'll surprise her) as we want to get to Fazeley by 1900. By my calculation there are 24 miles and 11 locks.

(By the way, I hate the new Blogger system. Does anyone like it?)

I promised some details about Jubilee. Where shall I start? Well, outside first.

The shell is a 2003 Liverpool Boat Co. 10/6/4 with sprayfoam insulation.

The paintwork is excellent, looking as though it has just had a full repaint. The colour scheme is predominantly light bluish grey, with blue borders and cream coach lines. Jubilee has just been blacked, and the tunnel bands were painted at the same time. It has a mix of portholes and rectangular windows, with one smallish side hatch. There are two pigeon boxes, one over the galley and one directly over the shower cubicle.

Inside, from the trad stern, steel doors and a steel slide lead into the engine "room" with cupboards for the inverter, electrics and calorifier. The engine itself is under a deck board which can be removed together with side panels to reveal a 41HP Isuzu.

Then there is a utility room with washing machine and storage; followed by the bedroom with full-size double bed with storage underneath, a small chest of drawers and a wardrobe with sliding doors.

A table and bench seat convert into a cross double bed, and the saloon has a leather settee, shelves and Morso Squirrel stove.

The floor throughout is oak tongue & groove, which is one of the things which attracted me to the boat.

The panelling is a light coloured wood (ash?) with mirror graining (if that's the expression), and tongue & groove boards on the ceiling. Lighting is mostly by a multitude of halogen spotlights: there are 10 in the open-plan saloon and galley, with three more under high-level cupboards and shelves. There are four in the bathroom, which creates a very bright space!

There seems to be lots of storage, which will be very handy for Ally and Ben when they live aboard from July.

Wednesday, 18 April 2012

At long last, and after a worrying last minute delay (more on this later), we are now the very proud owners of a new (to us) narrowboat. We have decided to rename it Jubilee.

The boat is in such good condition that to say that we are pleased would be a gross understatement. When I managed to transfer the last of the monies to the vendor in the very early hours of this morning, I was so excited that I woke Jan up. I just wanted to tell someone!

Even now, nearly 24 hours later, and after four hours of cruising in pouring rain, it almost doesn't seem possible that we've landed up with such a good boat.

We bought it in Kegworth and are now tied up in Shardlow, heading towards Fazeley. Give us a shout if you see us - but you won't see a name on the boat yet.

I'll give some details of the boat in a later post, but this will do for now.

Thursday, 12 April 2012

Tied up just above Hillmorton Locks. Victoria and Archimedes chugged past heading towards Braunston as it was getting dark, both with their tunnel lights on. Yesterday we passed Raymond and Nutfield as we ascended Buckby Locks.

Tuesday, 10 April 2012

Hmm. We were expecting to hear from the boat surveyor today. Nothing. I'll give him another day...

I have spoken to three insurance companies today, though. It was much better actually talking to them compared with filling in web pages to get quotes. I was able to explain about Ally and Ben needing to live aboard in July, but us using the boat before then.

The three companies in the frame at the moment are Euromarine (EIS); Collidge & partners; and Towergate (or is it Towergate Mardon?). The quote from the latter has come down to a much more sensible figure - not the nearly £600 it originally appeared.

In the meantime we're aboard Shadow with David, Penny and Fergus. We've been down the GU to Stoke Bruerne, and are now tied up just north of Gayton Junction.

It was frustrating bashing away on the computer while David was steering south from Bugbrooke in the sunshine. I emerged just as we entered Blisworth Tunnel.

Sunday, 8 April 2012

Wow! What a minefield! This is really complicated. Here's the situation: I need to insure the boat I'm buying so I can get a BW licence for it. But in three months I won't be using the boat, Ally and Ben will. And they'll be living aboard in a marina. One insurance company I looked at quoted for either "marina" or "living aboard", implying that the two were mutually exclusive.

And do I get third party, fire and theft or comprehensive cover? And what about contents?

I wonder if Ally and Ben should arrange the insurance, or do I have to be the policy holder in order to get the licence?

And if the boat's going to be in a marina for a couple of years does it need a BW licence at all?

I'm going to have to make some phone calls.

Oh, and we're going boating - on Shadow with David and co. That's bound to create extra complexity if, as we hope, we're to take over the "new" boat straight from Shadow.

If you have experience in this area I'd really appreciate your comments. Thanks.

Saturday, 7 April 2012

If our boat buying goes ahead next week, and I'm confident it will, we will have to take lots of things for the galley with us. The current owners are not leaving anything in that department as they've been living aboard and need all their items for their house. There won't even be a kettle!

So tomorrow, after church, we'll be packing some boxes with plates, bowls, mugs, cutlery, etc. etc. We're used to this sort of thing having camped a fair amount in the past. We'll even need sleeping bags as we're staying one night at my uncle's house in Wiltshire for his 80th birthday bash.

The slight complication with kitting out the boat with our stuff is that Ally and Ben will be wanting their own things on board from July. Still, we'll cross that accommodation bridge when we get to it.

Speaking of Ally and Ben, they're really looking forward to seeing their new home! And I'm looking forward to being able to reveal details of the boat very soon.

I wonder what we're going to forget to take.

There's going to be a lot to do when taking the boat over: BW licence and insurance are two which come to mind. Is there anything else? (Apart from paying for the thing, of course.)

Never having applied for a BW licence before (the boat's licence has just expired) I don't know what the procedure is. When I've posted this I'll have a look at waterscape.com.

As I don't like publishing posts without a photo, here's one of the Shakespeare boats all lined up ready for the holidays at Mercia Marina four weeks ago.

Thursday, 5 April 2012

I debated with myself whether to pose this photo as a "where is this?" tease, but decided it really would be too unfair. Too much of a trick. It would have been fine for April 1st, but I've missed the opportunity.

This does look like a portion of derelict canal, doesn't it? And it is indeed in Norfolk, but is nothing to do with the North Walsham and Dilham Canal.

It's the moat of New Buckenham Castle which, judging by the exposed tree roots out of view beyond the bridge, is normally in water.

There's not much left of the castle, either. We didn't explore, but the circular keep is thought to be the earliest in England.